Chapter 2 – The Amadeus Part 1
"Good morning, Maho-senpai," Kurisu called out from inside the lab as she stared at the fluctuating graph lines on the computer monitor.
Maho came into the lab and dropped her bag of books down unceremoniously as some of its content came spilling out onto the table.
Kurisu turned her head to look at Maho who had come up beside her with a raised eyebrow. "You … don't look too good," Kurisu commented.
Maho looked back at Kurisu with hollow baggy eyes, her disheveled hair only proved that Maho just got out of bed and had raced to the lab without so much looking at herself in the mirror. This was not the first time it has happened since Kurisu has been working in the neuroscience lab of Victor Chondria University.
Maho scowled at Kurisu's statement as she rubbed her drooping eyes while yawning aloud.
"Maho, Kurisu!" a voice announced from behind them.
Kurisu turned around to meet the familiar voice. "Professor!"
Kurisu could see from her peripheral vision that Maho's entire back tensed and straightened up at the said name. Maho immediately whirled around in surprise at the sudden visitation. "Professor Leskinen?!" Maho barely contained her yelp as Kurisu eyed Maho with amusement.
"Good morning!" Dr. Leskinen said in English with a broad smile. "I have brought someone here today."
"Huh?" Kurisu voiced with curiosity. "A visitor?"
"You can say so," Dr. Leskinen said with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "I asked him to help me retrieve something before coming here, He should be right here at any moment."
As if on cue, a voice resounded from the hallway as the said voice got increasingly louder. "Dr. Leski-inen," a voice struggled to say out loud, "I'm c-coming in."
Kurisu looked at her professor in question at what is going on. However, she was also met with a confused expression on her professor's face, which only served to pique her curiosity further.
Coming in through the entrance of the laboratory was Shirou carrying a massive copy machine. The copy machine initially had trouble getting in through the small entrance, however, with a little effort on Shirou's part allowed the copy machine to barely make it through. Putting the copy machine down softly onto the floor as Shirou wiped his exhausted red hands on his pants to relieve the soreness, Shirou looked up at the people in front of him as he opened his mouth to speak. "Here you go, Dr. Leskinen. I got the copy machine you wanted."
Dr. Leskinen seemed for a moment dumbfounded at what Shirou brought into the room. Even Kurisu was more surprised by the fact that Shirou could carry such a heavy equipment instead of being more confused by the fact on why the professor tasked Shirou to bring a copy machine here in the lab.
"Thank you, Shirou," Dr. Leskinen spoke, clearly impressed. "However, I was not referring to this copy machine but the significantly smaller one at the other side of the room I lead you into."
Shirou's face froze at Dr. Leskinen's words. It appears he had completely misunderstood the professor's words when they were on their way to the Victor Chondria University. "Oh, sorry about that," Shirou said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Do you want me to put that back and get the other one?"
"Huh? Hahahahah!" Dr. Leskinen suddenly laughed in a jolly manner. "There is no need to trouble yourself, Shirou. I was hoping for this copy machine in the lab either way, just no one was willing to help this old man."
"Oh," Shirou muttered before saying out loud, "then where would you like the copy machine be positioned at?"
"Ah, there is fine," Professor Leskinen pointed to the corner of the room which was a couple yards away from the front entrance.
Shirou nodded and without a word got back to work and did accordingly to what Dr. Leskinen instructed.
"He's stronger than he looks," Kurisu found herself murmuring quietly. She immediately blushed at what she said aloud and looked around in panic to make sure no one heard her self-musing.
"There, all done. Anything else you need help with, Dr. Leskinen?" Shirou asked while looking over at the copy machine.
"Ah, yes, Shirou, I have a job for you."
"Professor!" Kurisu found herself protesting. Her professor was sometimes such a kid, completely shameless. But for her professor to ask a newcomer who does not even remember his past to work for him without pay is a bit cruel.
"Oh, good morning, Kurisu," Shirou greeted in Japanese.
Kurisu looked over at Shirou to meet him face to face.
"Good morning, Hiya – AH!" Shirou yelped out mid-sentence in horror.
Kurisu didn't even have to guess the reason behind Shirou's bewilderment. Maho-senpai does resemble a zombie early in the morning … if you consider eight o' clock early.
"Huh? Shirou?" a voice said half-asleep.
"Hiyajo-san, are you feeling alright?" Shirou tentatively asked, afraid that saying anything wrong will cause the girl in front of him to give an outburst.
"I'm," Maho yawned mid-sentence, "okay."
"Not a morning person?"
Maho just shook her head in answer as Shirou nodded in confirmation.
"You were saying, Dr. Leskinen? What can I help you with?" Shirou asked.
Kurisu was about to give another retort but decided to relent instead. Sometimes the newcomer, Shirou, is simply too nice for his own good. Even her professor is using that noble character to his advantage, Kurisu mused in disapproval.
"Yes, Shirou. But before that, may I ask how is your condition?"
"My condition?" Shirou asked to make sure he heard correctly. "Nothing really changed," Shirou began, "I still only remember a few glimpses here and there, and even that's nothing much."
Dr. Leskinen frowned as he rubbed his chin in thought. "In that case, Shirou, do you mind if you become a tester for our lab?"
"Professor!" Kurisu found herself protesting again. And this time Maho also joined her as well.
"You don't mean …?" Maho trailed off with uncertainty.
"Tester?" Shirou asked, not sure what the professor in front of him was referring to.
"Allow me to ask a question before I explain. Shirou, if you discovered you have suddenly become an artificial intelligence tomorrow, and that you are only a clone of your original self, how will you react?" Dr. Leskinen presented a mind-boggling question to Shirou.
"A.I.?" Shirou muttered in question. "Nothing," Shirou said with certainty. "I will think nothing of it. As long as I am able to help people, I'm happy."
Silence ensued the laboratory until Dr. Leskinen broke it with a laugh. "Hahaha, excellent! Then it is settled, you shall join the Amadeus project."
"Me?"
"Yes, this will prove beneficial to both sides. You can get your memory back and we can have an excellent candidate to be part of the Amadeus project."
The thought of having back his memories tempted Shirou to accept the offer right there and then. However, there was something he needed to confirm first before doing so. "What is this Amadeus project?"
Dr. Leskinen didn't hesitate to answer the question. "The Amadeus is an artificial intelligence based on a human individual's memory. You can say the artificial intelligence is the clone of the original person."
"What is it being used for?" Shirou asked. This was what he wanted to know the most.
"We are now using the Amadeus to research how the human brain works. Later, we hope once the Amadeus project goes public, we can use it in hospitals, specifically for patients who are suffering from brain-related diseases that cause memory loss … similar to you."
Shirou nodded in understanding. Helping others was a goal and sentiment he can always agree to. If a scan of his brain to create an artificial intelligence could make even a minuscule difference, Shirou would be more than happy to do so.
"If that's so, I will be happy to cooperate."
"Excellent!" Dr. Leskinen said in English as he clasped his hands together in a celebratory fashion. "Come, Shirou, let us get started."
Dr. Leskinen wasted no time to usher Shirou to the other side of the laboratory as Shirou began to witness how large the room truly is. Dr. Leskinen then opened a door which Shirou would have at first assumed to be the bathroom if not for Dr. Leskinen taking him to the laboratory of the Amadeus project. Swinging the door open, Shirou followed in with the professor as Kurisu and Maho followed closely behind. Maybe they are needed to accomplish the project, Shirou guessed.
"Here," Dr. Leskinen gestured over to an inclined chair in front of him. "Sit down while we put this headgear on you. I can walk you through the basic science of this if you like," Dr. Leskinen offered. Probably hoping to alleviate his worry of the machine that had wires coming out of the chair and running all over along the ground, Shirou thought.
Shirou nodded in gratitude as he sat down in the chair. Even though he was by no means afraid of the piece of technology in front of him, Shirou didn't mind a nice explanation of the mechanisms behind it.
Dr. Leskinen requested Maho and Kurisu to run a checkup on the machine via the computer monitors hooked onto the device to monitor its activity as Dr. Leskinen himself got the headgear ready for use.
"It is often rare to find people suited for the Amadeus project," Dr. Leskinen began. "Normally people can never stomach the idea of being an artificial intelligence and knowing that you are no longer yourself but instead a clone of the original. This self-denial and panic causes the program to grow berserk, consequently causing errors in the system, which in turn corrupts the files of the artificial intelligence. This thought can be best described as a human going completely insane.
"We have tried the Amadeus on several individuals now, of course without telling them the true purpose behind the project, and all have failed except for Amadeus "Kurisu". We have yet to test Maho, but I trust she should be a success as well," Dr. Leskinen flashed a childish grin at Maho as she wordlessly continued to stare at the screen and run the checkups.
"Simply put, right now we will be putting this headgear on you and scan your brain, then later we will digitize your thoughts, actions, personality, anything that makes you, you. As for how this procedure can help you regain your memories, it will be best to first begin by telling you that the basic understanding of amnesia is not exactly the loss of memories, more accurately it would be memories being locked away in your brain. Using the Amadeus, those memories would alternatively be unlocked as we do a scan on your brain. So, if you want, once we are finished with everything, I can allow a private conversation with you and your artificial self."
Dr. Leskinen then said no more as he placed the headgear over Shirou's head. "Ready?" Dr. Leskinen asked Maho and Kurisu in English as both of them turned around to give their professor a thumbs up.
"It would be best to close your eyes," Dr. Leskinen suggested. Shirou immediately did as he was told. "This should make you a bit dizzy," Dr. Leskinen warned before motioning for Maho and Kurisu to activate the device.
Both of Dr. Leskinen's young assistants entered the necessary commands needed in the Amadeus program as the machine whirred to life, humming in a monotonous familiar tone.
Shirou immediately felt the effects of the scanning machine once it was activated as he felt himself drifting into unconsciousness. In just a few seconds, Shirou entered into nothingness.
"Ugh," Shirou groaned uncomfortably as he struggled to open his heavy eyes.
"Shirou?!" a voice cried out. However, the voice seemed to be so far away that it was barely audible and recognizable.
"S-saber?" Shirou groaned as he persisted to open his eyes. Finally, after a couple more efforts, Shirou managed to open his groggy eyelids as he placed his hand over his dizzy semi-conscious head.
"Ugh, what happened?" Shirou asked. The procedure must have been done if the headgear was already removed.
"Huh, Shirou?" a surprised voice said in front of him. "He's awake?"
"Yeah, I told you he was waking up, Senpai," another voice joined in.
"Kurisu? Hiyajo?" Shirou questioned in confusion. His eyes were blurred as he was unable to make out the two figures in front of him.
"You woke up much faster than the estimated time," Kurisu commented as she gave Shirou a hand to lift himself up in a better seated position. Shirou gladly accepted the hand, however missing it a couple of times before Kurisu made the initiative and held Shirou's hand. Shirou wasted no time and lifted himself up in a more comfortable position before letting go of Kurisu's helping hand.
"Thank you," Shirou said with gratitude before asking, "How long was I out?"
"Ten minutes," Maho answered from a distance. "A little too fast for my comfort," she then added.
"Huh? Why?" Shirou asked as he tried to rub his blurry vision away.
"All our past candidates have taken around an hour and a half to two hours to fully regain consciousness. The earliest recorded time is an hour. Yours was one-sixth of that time," Maho explained.
"Is that bad?"
Maho shook her head. "I don't think so, however, I am wondering did the scan failed, making you wake up earlier than the usual timeframe."
Shirou shrugged, showing that he was just as clueless as Maho was in the matter. "You should know better than me."
Maho didn't answer back as she was immersed in her own world. Shirou had seen this happen to Hiyajo more than once by now to know what is going on. The first time it happened, Shirou had wondered did he offended Maho in any way or manner. However, the resulting reason was much more different than his initial assumption.
"Are you feeling better?" Kurisu finally asked as she broke the temporary serene silence.
"I'm okay," Shirou replied as he tried to stand up before tripping on one of the wires and landing back on the metallic chair with a loud thump.
"Be careful! Are you okay?" Kurisu immediately asked as she came over to Shirou's side in case he needed any assistance.
Shirou motioned that he was okay to Kurisu. "I've had worse."
Kurisu face showed instant relief before directing an inquisitive gaze at Shirou. "That's not reassuring."
"Where's Dr. Leskinen?" Shirou asked, deciding to change the topic.
Kurisu sighed at Shirou's horrible attempt in changing the topic. "He went to work on getting the digitized data ready. Maho now is contacting a digital company who specializes in making high-end three-dimensional avatars to give to your artificial self, but that only begins until your artificial self stabilizes."
Shirou nodded hazily. "When would Dr. Leskinen be done?"
"A day at the very least. Organizing all those terabytes of digitized data is no easy feat. You may have to wait until tomorrow to hear of any progress."
"In that case," Shirou attempted to stand up once again, this time succeeding in the effort, "I should be doing something since everybody is helping me out."
"Huh?" came Kurisu's dumbfounded voice at the unexpected statement.
"Anything I can help with?" Shirou asked, ignoring Kurisu's temporary confusion.
"I don't –"
"Kurisu, can you bring me some water?" Maho's voice loudly resounded the entire space.
"I'll go get it," Shirou immediately offered. "Do you want me to get you a cup as well?" Shirou asked Kirisu. "Or do you prefer something else?"
"I'll … have some coffee," Kurisu finally relented to Shirou's determination.
Shirou nodded in agreement as he briskly jogged past the door and out of the smaller room within the laboratory. Kurisu was about to do another general checkup on the brain scan machine when she heard a crash not too far away.
"Shirou?" Kurisu questioned. Even Maho had her ears perked up by the sudden noise.
"I'm okay!" came the shout from outside.
Kurisu shook her head in disapproval. It appears Shirou had once again put himself into action when he wasn't yet fully recovered. Kurisu could already think back a few cases where Shirou was already exhausted yet still insisted on helping someone with an errand. That man has no sense of self, Kurisu mentally sighed.
She wondered what would Shirou do if a life and death situation ever occurred. Would he recklessly throw his life away for the sake of "helping" others? Would he redefine the definition of stupidity by whatever reckless maneuver he is going to do in order to help others or save a life? That man seemed to never cease to confuse Kurisu. A rare feat, especially for anyone who knows Kurisu.
"Another heater having some problems?" Shirou asked as he organized the tools in his general toolkit bag.
The man with glasses nodded at Shirou. "Yeah, the heater's been acting up lately, mind giving a quick look at it?"
"I don't mind, I may be able to fix it somehow. But if it's dead, you might as well buy a new one."
"Ah, no problem," the man waved dismissingly. "Just give it a look and I'm happy," he said as he placed his hands in his lab coat pocket.
Shirou gave the man a thumbs up and closed the toolkit box as he stood up. "Same place?"
The scientist nodded.
"Then I'll meet you there in a moment, let me grab another roll of electric tape, it might prove useful."
"Okay, see you later Shirou, don't leave me hanging!"
Shirou softly laughed at the man's comment. "I'll be there."
At those words, Shirou left for the school's cleaning room. Normally they kept a couple rolls of electric tape in the storage room in case a temporary fix on the electric fuse is ever needed. Walking swiftly while pacing himself as he speed-walked towards the destination, Shirou bumped into someone he never thought he would ever be bumping into.
"Oh, sorry," Shirou immediately apologized upon the impact, he quickly looked up to see who he bumped into before raising his eyebrow in surprise. "Kurisu?!" Shirou stated in question, surprised by the fact that she is walking around in this section of the building.
"Huh? Shirou?" Kurisu turned her head at the source of welcome.
"What are you doing here?"
"Ah, n-nothing!" a flustered Kurisu answered in a hurry.
"Hmmm? Is something wrong?" Shirou asked, hoping to find out what's going on.
"W-well, you left and never came back, I was wondering what happened to you," Kurisu said in a jumbled barely coherent sentence.
"Huh? You mean the coffee?" Shirou asked. It has been about four hours since he finished his brain scan for the Amadeus project.
"W-what?! No, not the coffee. I-I mean, y-you went to get something for I and Maho, then you never showed up …" Kurisu then trailed off, not knowing how to continue from there.
"Oh, sorry," Shirou then chuckled with amusement at Kurisu's display of actions and words. "I didn't mean to make you worry."
"As if!" Kurisu retorted in embarrassment as she huffed indignantly.
"Anyway, since I saw that both of you were busy, I left the drinks on the table beside the door, you should have seen it before you came out. You both must have been really out there if you didn't hear the door creaking …" Shirou then smiled at a flustered Kurisu once the revelation was revealed. "The drink should be cold by now, do you want me to buy you another warm one instead?"
"That won't be necessary!" Kurisu yelped.
Shirou was hoping to defuse Kurisu's embarrassment, but for some reason, he seemed to be accomplishing the exact opposite.
"It'll be quick," Shirou reasoned. "I don't think it will hinder your work, will it? I mean, you came this far to find me, the least I could do is to repay you back in kind."
"W-w-what?!"
"You … don't look too good," Shirou said with a frown. Kurisu's face was now getting increasingly red by the moment. "Maybe coffee is not a good idea, what about tea? I can brew you some since they don't sell it here. That is if you don't mind the wait."
"I-I—" Kurisu stuttered out, not knowing how to respond anymore at the miraculously stubborn boy.
"Maybe Maho would like to join," Shirou added. "She's been working pretty hard as well, it'll be nice for her to unwind once in a while."
"YES! Maho will want that," Kurisu said almost too eagerly, but Shirou paid no heed to it.
"Then it's settled," Shirou said while softly hitting his right fist onto his left open palm. "We can meet at the lab once I get the heater fixed at John's lab."
"Are you getting something?" Kurisu asked.
"Um, yeah, I'm going to get some electric tape for the fix."
"Oh, in that case," Kurisu grabbed something from the left pocket of her white unblemished lab coat, "here," Kurisu handed Shirou a roll of black electric tape.
"Huh? Thank you," Shirou replied as he received the electric tape from Kurisu. "Why did you have it?"
"I happened to need it an hour ago," Kurisu answered cryptically, but Shirou left the question there.
"Okay," Shirou nodded, "I'll be heading out then. I'll meet you guys at the lab in around ten minutes … give or take. If you guys want, you can also invite Dr. Leskinen to join us."
"The professor is out now, but if he comes by later, I'll ask him. Knowing him, he'll want to join," Kurisu mumbled incoherently at the end.
Shirou smiled. "See you later," Shirou waved his hand as he set off towards John's lab.
Kurisu stood where she was at as she shook her head. That teen is simply too nice for his own good. He is going to meet a world of disappointment at this rate, Kurisu thought vehemently before walking off in the opposite direction of Shirou.
"There you are," a voice called out to Shirou.
Shirou turned his head to meet the voice. "Dr. John," Shirou greeted back.
"I was starting to doubt that you were coming here, anyway, come on in," the university professor ushered him in. Even though Dr. John's Japanese was not superb, the professor was still capable of carrying out day to day conversations in Japanese.
"Here it is," Dr. John gestured to a portable sized gray heater at the side of the room. "the heater can't seem to turn on," Dr. John explained the problem, "I think one of the wires is loose or something. I'll let you get a good look at it."
"Thanks," Shirou nodded in the professor's direction as the man left to not further disturb Shirou.
Shirou eyed the heating device for a while before scanning around his surroundings. Seeing that there is no one nearby, Shiro softly laid his hand on top of the heater as he closed his eyes.
"Trace …" Shirou's magic circuits flared to life as green glowing lights ran through the entire length of his arm. "On!" the green light extended from his limbs and into the machine.
With those simple two words uttered by Shirou, Shirou was able to analyze the entire structure of the object in front of him. Despite not knowing how he knew this, Shirou understood the magic he was casting is called by the name, Structural Analysis.
Shirou opened his eyes back again to the real world as he stared at the heater once again. Sure enough, the doctor's assumption was close to accurate. There was a severed copper wire in the heater that is hindering it from turning on. Popping the back lid of the heater open, Shirou examined the components of the heater thoroughly before finding the faulty wire.
Taking the severed wire in hand, Shirou grabbed the electric tape Kurisu gave him in hand before unrolling the tape and wrapping the wire with it. Once done, Shirou placed the wire back into the heater as he fitted the lid back into its original place. Making sure everything checked out, Shirou then plugged the heater into the electric socket and turned on the device. The heater turned on without a hitch as it quickly began to blow out hot air within a short thirty seconds. Satisfied with the results, Shirou picked up his toolkit and went to find Dr. John.
"Dr. John," Shirou called out when he found the professor just outside of his lab drinking a bottle of Dr. Pepper.
"Huh? Oh, Shirou, you done already?" came the professor's reply.
"Yeah, got it fixed and running," Shirou answered back.
The professor smiled before reaching out his hand to shake Shirou's in gratitude. "Thank you! It's been forever since the lab had a good heater running, this will surely boost the morale of the fellow lab workers!"
"No problem," Shirou replied with a smile. Shirou then paused for a second before continuing. "I have somewhere to go right now, if there is anything else you need, just give me a call."
The professor shook his head in amusement. "See you around, lad." And with that, the professor left into the room with the carbonated drink in hand.
"That … was fast," Kurisu commented when she saw Shirou coming in through the door.
"Hope I didn't keep you guys waiting too long. Anyway, do you guys have a stove around here?" Shirou asked.
Kurisu pointed to the side of the room just a few yards away. "There's one there."
"Good," Shirou nodded, "I've brought some water, a kettle, and a tea bag for our drink. But more importantly, is … Hiyajo-san okay?"
Beside Kurisu, with her head plopped lazily on the table as her hair sprawled messily on it, was Maho clearly exhausted from whatever she was doing previously.
Kurisu eyed at the said person on her right when Shirou asked his question. "She will be fine," Kurisu decided to answer. "I think she stayed up all night yesterday for some study she's doing," Kurisu frowned at her senpai's direction.
"Oh," Shirou nodded, as if the explanation Kurisu gave explained everything.
"Curse you, Kurisu …" a mumble escaped out of Maho's mouth from the table. "You know I don't like tea …"
Kurisu tactfully ignored Maho while Shirou hummed a tune as he got himself to work. For some reason, Shirou felt oddly comfortable in the presence of a stove. Shirou knew he enjoyed cooking, but as for how good he is … he had no idea.
After waiting for five minutes for the kettle of water to boil while the tea bag sat in the water, completely saturating itself in it, Shirou began to think a nice snack would be nice to come along with the Japanese tea. However, there was nothing Shirou had in his disposal to make a snack with. After all, this was a laboratory instead of a kitchen.
"Here," Shirou announced, breaking Kurisu's musing and Maho's slumber while at it. Shirou then placed down three sets of teacups on the table and filled each cup with the tea from inside the kettle. "Careful, it's hot," Shirou warned, though mostly for Maho seeing the state she was in.
Shirou then set the kettle of tea aside in the middle of the table before grabbing his own cup of tea. Taking a drink of it, Shirou was immediately dissatisfied with it. Despite the tea bag labeling itself as Japanese green tea, the tea's taste is nowhere to what he is used to … according to what little memory he could recall. Maybe he should have gotten the triangular tea bags instead …
"Hmmm, this is good, Shirou," a voice praised, alternatively breaking Shirou's train of thought.
"Huh? You like it?" Shirou asked.
"It tastes better than the tea beverages in the convenient store," came the reply from Kurisu.
Shirou's heart sank. To be compared to the level of a convenient store … that didn't sit right with Shirou. It was as if his very pride and honor were being stepped on.
"I should cook for you guys next time," Shirou said before realizing what he was saying.
"You know how to cook?" Kurisu asked with surprise.
"Well … yeah, I think."
"You think?" Kurisu frowned at those words as she repeated Shirou's answer.
"I'm pretty sure I can cook, but it feels like I'm unconsciously doing it instead of basing my skills out of memory. It's a bit confusing," Shirou sighed.
"In that case, maybe you can try cooking something for Dr. Leskinen when you stay over. I'm sure he'll say yes," Kurisu suggested.
"Maybe," Shirou mumbled. "Do you think he'll like Japanese food?"
Kurisu smiled. "He's not picky when it comes to food. In fact, he's quite adventurous with it."
"Hmmm, I think I'll take that suggestion. It'll be a great way to repay him back for all of his hospitality," Shirou thought aloud.
"Refill," a sudden half-asleep mumble broke the conversation.
Shirou looked over to his right to see a scarcely awake Maho who seemed to be barely stopping herself from dozing off as she stretched out the cup in her hand at Shirou's direction.
Shirou grabbed the cup without question and poured more tea in it.
"I need the caffeine," Maho mumbled out again.
"If you're going for caffeine, Senpai, coffee would be better," Kurisu stated a matter-of-factly.
"Here," Shirou said as he handed Maho a refilled cup of green tea.
Maho didn't hesitate before downing its entire content down her throat. Shirou inwardly winced at the sight.
"HOT, HOT, HOT, HOT, HOT, HOT" Maho chanted out mechanically as she opened her mouth in pain while fanning her burning tongue to no avail.
Kurisu looked over at Maho without mercy. "You did it to yourself, Senpai."
Shirou went over near the stove and got a bag of tissue papers as he handed it to Maho so she can clean up the spilled tea on the table which she indirectly caused when she slammed her teacup down roughly on the table's surface. Maho gingerly took the bag of tissue papers while she continued using her other hand to fan her burned tongue.
"Kurisu," Shirou suddenly addressed.
"What?" Kurisu asked in question.
"You know I've been here about a week now, and I get the fact that this school is quite prestigious, especially in the field of neuroscience. But I'm curious how you ended up here, do you mind telling me?"
Kurisu eyes glanced questioningly at Shirou before answering. "Neuroscience is technically my secondary interest," Kurisu began, "physics would be my primary one."
"Physics?" Shirou confirmed.
Kurisu nodded solemnly. "Yeah, it's just that … well, it's complicated. I took up neuroscience for the benefit of my entire family."
Sacrificing something you enjoy for the sake of others is an idea Shirou is well acquainted with, and it is also something he respects as well. "You have to be quite smart to make it to a school like this, let alone in the field of Neuroscience … and at the age of seventeen?" Shirou then nodded, completely impressed. "Your parents must be proud of you."
Kurisu softly smiled. "Thanks … and I hope so."
Shirou smiled back as he turned over to Maho's zombie form. "You must be pretty impressive yourself, Hiyajo-san, to be studying in a university when you're just in your teen years!" Shirou praised aloud.
Kurisu winced audibly at Shirou's statement as Maho stared blankly ahead at Shirou. A look which Shirou knew boded no good will for him.
After a tense silence, Maho finally spoke. "I. Hate. You." Maho mumbled out the words with a piercing stare at Shirou's direction.
Shirou was dumbfounded at those words. What did he do to deserve such treatment? All he wanted for this short tea respite was to get to know his first two friends since his amnesia a little better, and now he gets this in return?
"Why?" Shirou asked, hoping to understand.
"I. Am. Twenty-one!" Maho punctuated each word as she spoke, putting extra emphasis on her age without shame.
Shirou eyes widened and bulged out at the revelation. Twenty-one? Impossible? Inconceivable? Preposterous? All these words seemed to pop up into Shirou's mind without restraint as he tried to process the newly discovered news.
"You're … twenty-one," Shirou finally voiced out loud. This was all he could muster out of his tongue-tied mouth.
Maho continued to stare at Shirou as if daring him to say another word.
"Uh … care for another cup of tea?" Shirou awkwardly chuckled as he presented Maho with the teapot.
"No thanks," Maho shot back with a glare.
Shirou mentally winced at his horrible attempt to change the subject, reminding a person how she foolishly burned her tongue on an obviously boiling hot cup of tea was definitely not the way to go about it.
"Kurisu?" Shirou offered by presenting the teapot in Kirisu's direction.
"I'm good," Kurisu offhandedly replied as she continued to sip on the tea she still had left in her cup.
For a moment, nothing was said among them as the peaceful silence and the scent of tea permeated in the air. These were the moments which Shirou could always lie down and appreciate any time of the day. Where things are finally at peace and at rest.
"Ah, there are my favorite lab partners!" a voice resounded from behind them.
Kurisu and Maho whirled their heads around in surprise at the voice. "Professor Leskinen?!"
"Ah, Shirou is here too! And what is this heavenly smell?" Dr. Leskinen asked as he took in a deep breath at what is wafted in the air.
"Green tea," Shirou answered as he took the teapot in hand. "Would you like to try some?"
"Oh, a traditional Japanese tea party it is then? I would love to join!" Dr. Leskinen proceeded by seating himself in between Maho and Kurisu.
Shirou stood up and grabbed an extra teacup from a drawer as Shirou poured tea into it before passing the cup over to the professor.
"Mmmm," Dr. Leskinen hummed contently, "this is most excellent! Why did you not invite me Maho, Kurisu, to this traditional Japanese meeting?"
Kurisu sighed as Maho grumbled incoherently.
"Have you finished up with Amadeus?" Kurisu asked the professor while he continued to down the contents in his cup.
"Ah, yes, however, it will take a full day for the system to sort through and organize the terabytes of data."
Shirou nodded his head as he listened in on the conversation. "Thank you for all your help Dr. Leskinen, Kurisu, Maho," Shirou looked at each individual while saying each of their names with a respectful bow of his head to express his gratitude.
"The collaboration is mutual," Dr. Leskinen explained with a smile on his face. "I am glad you can help us in return."
Shirou grinned at the Dr. Leskinen's words. "It is my pleasure."
Dr. Leskinen was about to take another sip from his drink when a man in a traditional white flawless lab coat came rushing in the room. "Dr. Leskinen, Amadeus Tester Zero Two Three is compiling errors!"
Dr. Leskinen immediately stood up from his seat. "Errors? That's too fast! Has the Amadeus been activated?"
"No, but the computer is having a difficult time debugging the program. We may have to shut down the program."
"No," Dr. Leskinen quickly shot down the idea, "allow the computer to continue to re-stabilize the Amadeus."
"But—"
"Continue running the system, import it immediately into the Amadeus application once the program finishes debugging," Dr. Leskinen then turned his head over to look at Shirou. "I will be taking my leave, Shirou, thank you for the tea," Dr. Leskinen smiled at Shirou before following the other lab partner with haste.
Shirou didn't even have time to acknowledge the professor's thanks as Dr. Leskinen quickly attended to the emergency. "Is everything alright?" Shirou finally asked with slight hesitation.
Kurisu shook her head with uncertainty. "I don't know," Kurisu honestly, "this is something none of us has encountered before. I should help check it out."
"Dr. Leskinen didn't ask for our assistance," Maho informed Kurisu, no longer looking sleepy or grumpy, but instead now wore a completely serious expression.
"And when has that ever stopped you, Senpai?" Kurisu smirked mischievously as she continued to head out for the door.
Maho gave a defeated sigh. "I'm coming with you!" Maho shouted when Kurisu walked past the doorway without stopping.
Shirou simply sat in his chair while drinking the remainder of the leftover tea from the teapot, looking completely confused at what just happened
Thank you for reading!
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Next week's update: Fate/Blade Zero: Chapter 7 (site chapter 9) – Sakura